How Will Today’s Election Change the D.C. Circuit?

The D.C. Circuit could lose one of its judges during the next presidential term if the President is called on to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. Judge Merrick Garland is frequently named as a possible second term SCOTUS appointee for President Obama, and Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Janice Rogers Brown have both appeared on lists of possible Romney appointees in recent months. One artist even used the threat of future Justice Kavanaugh to drum up votes for President Obama:

But even if no one leaves the court, its composition is likely to change in the next four years. Whoever is President in January will learn from President Obama’s failure to name a single judge to this important court. Expect quick action to fill at least two of the D.C. Circuit’s three empty seats.

See also:

Bruce Moyer, The Elections and Judicial Vacancies, Federal Bar Association Washington Watch (Oct./Nov. 2012) (“If no appointment to the D.C. Circuit occurs before Jan. 20, 2013, President Obama will be the first President in more than 50 years who has served a full four-year term without having a single nominee confirmed to the D.C. Circuit, informally known as the second-highest court in the land.”)